Gold Coast plan to put a tough year to bed and ruin Johnathan Thurston’s final NRL game
GOLD COAST coach Garth Brennan has urged his Titans troops to show no mercy and rain on the parade of retiring Cowboys champion Johnathan Thurston this Saturday at Robina.
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GOLD COAST coach Garth Brennan has urged his Titans troops to show no mercy and rain on the parade of retiring Cowboys champion Johnathan Thurston this Saturday at Robina.
Brennan named an unchanged line-up to the Titans side that went within a whisker of upsetting premiers the Storm in their fighting 10-8 defeat last week at Cbus Super Stadium.
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In their final home game of the season, the Titans will run out before a sellout of 27,000 as thousands of Queenslanders flock to Robina to say farewell to departing Cowboys champion Thurston.
While Brennan lauded Thurston as the greatest player he has seen, he warned his players not to be distracted by the ‘JT’ hype, mindful a Cowboys victory will relegate the Titans to 14th spot.
“It’s a big occasion for the Cowboys and JT, but it’s important for us to finish strong,” said Brennan, whose team is one win ahead of the Cowboys but behind on percentages (-106 to -76).
“This game is important for us.
“There is a lot of hype around Thurston, but it’s our last home game and we need to put in a good performance.
“It’s great for southeast Queensland to see JT play his last game. He is the best player I’ve seen, but it’s a chance for our fans and members to see us for the last time as well (in 2018).
“Everyone wants JT to get the respect he deserves, the atmosphere will be great and I’m sure the players will get up for that.”
While the Titans were gutsy against the Storm last week, Brennan is under no illusions about the club’s inability to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.
It has been a turbulent rookie season for Brennan, who concedes the Titans must find a harder edge in defence to be a legitimate finals contender.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, that can only make us better going into 2019,” he said.
“It’s been a challenging year, that’s the best way to describe it, we’ve had our ups and downs and really heartbreaking losses at times, but there is promise going forward.
“People support teams who are having a crack. I am disappointed we aren’t playing semi-finals, but our fans can walk away knowing their team had a crack … and knowing our club is heading in the right direction.
“You end up where you deserve to. Our senior guys need to learn to win a bit more and the teams who made the semis this year deserve to be there.
“They have done the hard yards and we haven’t, so it’s important we get better.”
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Originally published as Gold Coast plan to put a tough year to bed and ruin Johnathan Thurston’s final NRL game